Pesto in lunch box - nut free school

[Franxie]

I’ve got a friend who has twins my kids class, they are reception age. She doesn’t let her kids have school lunches as she doesn’t think they are healthy.

Today I asked her daughters what they had for lunch and they told me a croissant, mum clarified it was a croissant with pesto spread inside, chicken, mozzarella and tomato slices.

The school is nut free so I said oh doesn’t pesto have nuts in it, she said it was fine, I said it’s really not allergies can be deadly and she insisted it was fine, school never pays attention, it’s healthy and if school ever do ask she will say it’s nut free pesto.

WIBU to report this to the school?

Pesto usually has pine nuts in. Despite the name they are not nuts and don't usually pose a risk to tree nut or peanut allergy sufferers. They are seeds!

Ordinarily I would say YANBU but pine nuts are seeds and ok in nut allergies. Not sure whether there are other nuts in pesto.
She is being very unsafe if she thinks pine nuts are nuts but carries on regardless

Pesto is made with pine nuts which aren't nuts, they're seeds. Sometimes you get pesto made from cashew nuts which are also not nuts, they are seeds.
so I would assume that pesto is fine too!

Pine nuts are technically seeds aren’t they? And they there’s no chance of inhaling any dust particles as the oil and whizzed up basil keeps it in suspension. So as long as she’s not sharing the lunch I don’t see a problem.

Not even the allergy charities think nut bans in schools are helpful. My dd school tried to tell us what our dc could have for breakfast !!! Asked all parents to avoid anything with nuts.

Yeah pine nuts are seeds it's fine.

Double check what you buy. Some pesto brands substitute cheaper nut ingredients for pine nuts but otherwise you’re fine.

Shop bought pesto generally contains cashew nuts, so it would go against the no nuts policy.

Ive been a lurker on Mumsnet for several years and created a profile JUST to reply to this.

Absolutely yes - I'd you have a nut allergy you can go into anaphylaxis through eating pine nuts.

I have a tree nut allergy.
I am severely allergic to pine nuts (in fact it's one of the "worst ones for me, only behind pistachio and cashew)
I have had a severe reaction to pesto (yes SPECIFICALLY pesto on pasta) that resulted in hospitalisation.

Absolutely not

Completely incorrect

Cashews are tree nuts and dangerous to nut allergy sufferers.

Pistachios are also technically "seeds" but fall under the culinary tree nut category. It's to do with the proteins in them.

I have a friend with a nut allergy who also cannot have pesto.

Dangerously wrong information

This is not correct

I have a nut allergy. I feel I need to add, MOST pesto is made with cashew nuts added! It’s not meant to be, but apparently it’s a cheap bulking agent. There are a few which don’t, but you do need to search.

Jarred pesto has cashews in it, for this reason my allergic son can't go near it

It’s not okay. It’s probably made of cashews. I have specifically asked our school about pesto before and was told no.

Thank you for this information, but your experience isn't the usual one.

https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Pine-nuts-allergy-factsheet.pdf

www.allergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Tree-Nut-Allergy-v2.pdf

Forgot to add pic

My son has a serious cashew allergy

Actually a large proportion of people with (specifically) tree nut allergies are dangerously allergic to pine nuts. So what you is is 100% incorrect.

I agree, Schools don't have dairy free policies, yet more children suffer anaphylactic reactions to dairy than to nuts. Having allergen free schools can provide a false sense of security.

This. Pine nuts are SPENDY. Most pesto is bulked out with cashew.

Thank you for patronising my actual lives experience but I beg to differ, and maybe my experience is that of a child at the school and hence the advice given.